Jan 28, 2011

With Superbowl around the corner, these lightened up Jalapeño Poppers will make the perfect party appetizer. Jalapeño peppers stuffed with cheese, coated with seasoned panko, then baked not fried. You won't miss the full fat version!

This was another recipe request from one of my wonderful readers! You guys rock. I will never run out of ideas thanks to all your requests, just hope I can keep up with all of them. And speaking of awesome readers, thank you for nominating me for the Kitchn's Top 10 Food Blog for 2011. Because of you, I made the Top 10. Wow, what an honor! I've been chosen among some really great food bloggers. If you like my blog and would like to vote, click here.

Back to making these jalapeños, one important note when making these, wear gloves while handling the peppers. There is nothing worse than touching your eye or lip with jalapeño fingers, trust me, I've done it! Also if you have little kids, be careful to discard all the seeds if any fall on the floor. My one year old has a gift for finding every speck on the floor and putting it in her mouth.

These can be made ahead of time, then baked when ready to serve. One points plus each, Enjoy!

I really have no idea what I would do without you Gina! I cook from your recipes at all week long and have never been disappointed. I actually discovered you before I started the plan but once I joined I couldn't do without your recipes. Thank you so much for all that you do.

I am dying for a lightened up creamy polenta a la Gina. Pretty Please?

Gloves are so so so important! I made something similar once and was scooping out the seeds with my bare fingers. My fingers literally felt like they were on fire for the rest of the day. Unfortunately I learned the hard way :(

Gina, I found your blog about a week ago. I have been referring people to your website like crazy! A ton of people that I have referred just LOVE it! I have a friend who tried out one of your recipes, and loved it! I have loved every recipe of yours that I have made! I have even listed a few of your recipe names (with links back to your page to get the recipe) on my blog! I call you a complete cook genius! Keep up the AMAZING work! WOW!

I have been making Jalapeno Poppers for 2 years now, and I love your idea of green onions in the cheese mix. I have found fat free Philadelphia cream cheese that, when mixed with the cheddar and melted, tastes like the light cream cheese with less calories and fat! I will be making these for sure!

Made these last night, AWESOME!!!! My husband liked them better than the greasy deep fried restaurant version! Making them for the Superbowl Party next weekend! Thanks Gina! Thank you for all of your hard work and AMAZING recipes, they truly help us all through our weight loss journey!

I just made these...they are literally still in the oven. The only thing was the crumbs would not stick to the bare jalapeno (the underneath). I just noticed the recipe said "beaten" egg whites and we didn't beat them first....would that do it? Also would egg beaters work better than the whites for making the crumbs stick? Thanks! Hubby is very excited to try them!

Mine are in the oven with five minutes to go. Can't wait to dig in! They smell delicious. The scallions in the mix totally make it (I had to sneak a taste). I'm LOL after reading these comments because my hands are also burning! Lesson learned ;o) Gina, I also had a hard time getting it to stick under the pepper--so I compensated by adding a bit more to the top. Any advice is welcomed. Thanks for sharing your fantastic recipes!

I used egg beaters so I'm thinking maybe the egg beaters might be better than egg whites, I had no problems with the crumbs sticking. I used a spoon to help gently coat them, then gently placed them on the cookie sheet. I noticed not all panko crumbs in my supermarket looked the same. Some were more condensed while others looked fluffier. I wonder if it has something to do with the panko? I used real Japanese panko, not japanese "style" panko. Just guessing though!

This looks Amazing! I am only week 4 into Weight Watchers, and with super bowl this coming Sunday you saved me from over doing it! I can have a few of these guys and not feel guilty plus I know my husband will love them. Can't wait to try them!

this recipe is AWESOME! i'm so excited to try it. I did an entry on jalapeno poppers and used your recipe (giving you credit and a link back, of course =D). also, i used the recipe builder on the WW online site and they actually said these a 1 PP per serving!

I've made a similar version a couple times now (using finely crushed corn flakes instead of panko). My boyfriend and I love them! They've ruined typical, fried poppers for me. These babies are far superior to the fatty, bland poppers usually found in restaurants. Awesome.

I, too am in week 4 of WW. I am making them as we speak and I am having a problem with the Japanese panko crumbs and egg beaters. I am also making the zuch. sticks and the crumbs are not sticking to them either. Any thoughts? They both look delicious though!!

This receipe is terrific! I served it at my Superbowl party and no one even knew they were a healthy version. I have tried several of your reeipes and they have all been great but this is my favorite! Keep them coming!!

I had a chance to try these tonight. My son has a gluten allergy so I attempted a GF version. I replaced the Panko with crushed Rice Chex cereal and used a tablespoon of rice flour. Thanks for a great recipe that is easy to make GF.

roll the bottom of the jalapeno in flour before the egg beaters and the panko sticks without a problem. might add like a tiny bit of calories/points but well worth not having to deal with the frustration. excellent recipe. added a can of lump crab to fancy them up. totally delish!

Wow. Made these last night for my sister and her husband, and we were all blown away. I used goat cheese instead of cream cheese (b/c that's what I had) and it was GREAT. I also forgot to spray them on top, but it didn't seem to matter.

My Hubby and I really enjoyed these! Thank you so much for making such an AWESOME version.... in the future my hubby and I are going to pre-cook the jalepenos to make sure they're a little softer... they didn't really have enough time to cook before the panko had turned brown.. might also help with having the panko stick to the bottom.... Thank you again!

My daughter told me about your blog around two years ago. I've yet to try the buffalo chicken dip, but I will, soon. In the meantime, Ive made the buffalo wings, and I'm about to make them again today for the big game. GO BIG BLUE!

made these today and they turned out good, however i severely under salted them and they tasted much better with some extra salt sprinkled on the top. next time im going to add salt and pepper to the cheese mixture as well. also i did not have enough panko, and thats that i added another 1/4 cup panko. even then 4 of my poppers had to go in without breading( they were still yummy that way). i think what happend is that i bought really big jalapenos, from your pictures yours are stuff and overflowing with cheese, while i barely had enough to stuff all 24 halves. all in all would definitely make again with smaller jalapenos and more seasoning.

I'm wondering if anyone else besides vlo1125 had a problem with the filling quantity? I made this on Sunday and the full batch of filling was just enough for the 6 peppers I was stuffing. They seemed normal sized...

I did roll the filled peppers in flour before dipping in egg like other commenters suggested and the panko stuck pretty well. Overall, a delicious recipe. Thanks, Gina!

I made these tonight and was SO excited to try them as I am usually a total sucker for the fried fast food version of these. However, they were entirely too spicy for me. I'm not sure if that's normal or I just did something wrong? Maybe I will try again some other time. Great recipe!!

Just made these they were really really good. I usually make the japo stuffed with cream cheese wrapped in bacon and bake. They are awesome but extremely fattening. So this was a great recipe to have to get kind of the similar taste thank you.

Thanks for a great recipe! Next time I think I would bake them longer to make the peppers more mild, or maybe par-boil them or something. Or maybe try this with small, colored bell peppers for a less spicy twist.

These are amazing! I've made them for four holiday parties this year and they are always the talk of the party. More people have asked me to send them this recipe than have ever requested recipes of the things I've made in the past.

WARNING: WEAR GLOVES WHEN YOU MAKE THESE! The first time I made them, I did not wear gloves and my hands were in excruciating pain for 36 hours.

Yum! I just made these and the only negative was I should have made more!

I adjusted the recipe a bit. I dipped them in flour first then egg whites then panko crumbs. I only added salt and pepper to the crumbs. For the filling I used 4 oz fat free cream cheese, 2 oz reduced fat cream cheese, 28 grams of a reduced fat mexican cheese blend, salt, pepper, chilli powder, garlic powder and fresh cilantro. I did all the math and caluclated 4 points for 6 poppers. I did have to bake them for about 45 minutes until they were brown enough. Thank you for posting the tip about wearing gloves!

I have to agree with Elizabeth - I should have made more! They were so easy to make and they were delicious. I cut the cheese in half, as I only had 6 jalapenos on hand, but still managed to use the full 1/2 cup of panko. I also used a whole egg. Thanks Gina!

I just made these but subbed light mozzarella for cheddar, green onion for scallion, one egg beaten in place of egg beaters and no paprika or garlic powder so used cayenne and chili powder... also added a little crumbled bacon on top. All organic, turned out great and I ate 8 of them >_< - saying something cuz I don't usually eat lot.

This looks fantastic. I've only been vegan for several months and sometimes I want more flavor than plain brown rice. I'm so glad to have found your blog - I studied abroad in Ireland in college and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.buy amyl nz

I made these for Thanksgiving and I think it was the best thing we ate all day! I added the 1/2 tsp baking soda as some people suggested. Also, I didn't have a mini muffin tin so I just used a regular. That made about 15 "poppers". So so yummy! They practically disappeared. lesbian novels

Hi Gina! Quick question. In the past, I've made large batches of the traditional poppers when I have an abundance of peppers in the garden. I typically make and fry them, then freeze them and reheat in the oven. Do you think these could be frozen and reheated? My one son and I are typically the only ones who eat them, and we don't need a whole batch between us :)

Made these last night. Fantastic! I have jalepenos running out my ears from the yard and needed a way to use a bunch! May make this again in the next few days. As many others asked, would be great to know if these could be frozen and then baked later.

I have found that the longer you bake these the milder the pepper becomes. I usually go by this rule, 20 minutes for hot flavor, 30 for medium and 40 for mild. I have made these for years, but can't wait to try the skinny version.

YUM! Looks so delicious! Can these be pre-baked a day in advance? I have a Mexican themed lunch at work but I obviously don't have an oven there. I was thinking I can make them the night before, refrigerate overnight, then keep them out at room temp the next day until lunch time. Any idea?

These are delicious!!! I know it didn't help the "skinny" part but these were just screaming for a tiny bit of crumbled bacon mixed in with the cream cheese part. Amazing! I also couldn't get the crumbs to stick to the bottom of the jalapenos, even after dusting with cornstarch. No big deal though. What stuck, stuck. What didn't, I just added a tiny bit of extra on top to give a little extra crunch. I baked about 35 minutes to get the peppers nice and soft but the topping golden and crunchy. Will definitely make again!